Those Nights
by MaryChat
Summary: {Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe.} What if you're one of the two greatest Paris's superheroes? What if one day you life will change? What if one day you'll find out you're going to another country? What if when you return things not gonna be the same? What if you've been replaced? What if you're not needed anymore?
1. Chapter 1

It was quite and peaceful night in Paris. Cool wind was running through Ladybug's hair, messing them up a bit. The famous red-spotted superhero stood on the top of the Eiffel Tower watching the stars. Her thoughts, drifted away by the wind, returned to her town, her home. Her Paris. She loved it with all her heart and soul, also enjoying the chance of doing something to it. True, the job of a superhero was complicated, hardly leaving time for her normal life. To make it even harder she was a teenager who had to go to school and do a lot of homework. However, she didn't regret it, not even once since the day the first akuma appeared. It didn't go well at first, she was hesitating and hardly believing herself. But she was thankful that she had a second chance. She was thankful that she had her partner, who helped her to gain faith in herself. Chat Noir wasn't a gift, sometimes she barely could stand his flirting and amount of puns. Yet he was always there by her side no matter what. He was always there to listen and to give an advice. He was annoying and cocky, still she couldn't help but appreciate his selflessness and heroism, even though she always gets so mad at him every time he sacrifices himself for her.

At quite nights like this she usually quickly finishes her part of the city to patrol and goes home. Not today. She had a funny feeling that she _should_ stay a little bit longer. Ladybug get used to listen to this little voice of intuition in her head. It has never failed her.

Young girl grew impatient._ 'Where is that cat?'_ she thought angrily. Sure he does has private life too, but Chat usually never comes late, not even for a few minutes.

"Well, hello, M'Lady" a cat-themed superhero causally stood by her side. His cat-like green eyes glowing mischievously in the dark. There he was. All derisive and cheeky with his signature smirk across his face and his tail in his hand, which he was twirling. Ladybug smiled lightly at his attitude.

"What took you so long?"

"Oh, y'know, some family issues, nothing big" he shrugged his shoulders looking away. But young super heroine knew better, after all they were fighting crime together for a few months now.

"Kitty, what's wrong?"

Said blonde smiled a little, touched by genuine concern in his partner's voice. He then thought back to the that day's events.

~ Flashback ~

_Adrien didn't know. For the matter of fact he never knows anything. Nor understands anything. He was homeschooled for way too long to understand and see people's feelings even if they were clear for anyone else. But he learned fast to read people's facial expressions and emotions. It's just his father was different. Yet Adrien didn't know._

_It all started when Nathalie – Gabriel Agreste's assistant – told Adrien that all his plans for day were canceled and he had to get home immediately after school, his father wanted to talk to him._

_Adrien couldn't find himself a place the whole school day. He was very nervous. Talks between him and Gabriel were such a rare thing, that Adrien sometimes wondered if they even happened or it was just his imagination. But even they were mainly about his schedule or his 'abusive behavior' or 'bad influence' his friends have on him._

_He still couldn't figure out why his father wanted him to do all of this. Sure, he enjoyed fencing it was freeing and it was even helpful for his masked side. He also liked piano, it just so much reminded him of his mother. He even grew to like Chinese even though it was quite difficult language. He got used to photo shoots and amount of fan girls just to make him proud._

_It hardly changed anything. Gabriel Agreste still remained cold and distant, barely showing any other way feelings beside disapproving or anger._

_So of course Adrien was nervous. Even teachers noticed and tried not to push on him. He was surprised how his classmates were trying to cheer him up during the school. Even usually shy and not talkative Marinette wished him something like 'good luck' in her own cute stuttering way. As if they knew._

_Naturally he was having lunch all alone as always in a big dining room. Adrien was trying hard not to eat too fast, that Nathalie wouldn't notice how impatient he is to talk to Gabriel._

_"Adrien, your father is waiting in his office, please, hurry" she said with barely noticeable sympathy in her voice._

_He immediately stood up, not carrying to finish eating and run straight to the black door. He couldn't brought himself to knock. He was waiting the whole day and now he couldn't even make himself to move. He wasn't ready. His heart was beating very fast and every beat was echoing in his ears. He was scared. He was afraid that this would be the time something bad would happen. Maybe he would forbid him from seeing his friends, forbid him from joking with Nino and talking with him about his crazy fun girls or his DJ's things. Forbid him from hanging up with Alya and discussing new Ladybug's video with her. Forbid him from seeing his sweet and careful Marinette who, despite her shy nature, was always happy to see him and usually invites him to come play video games or just to have some great time in her parent's bakery. Or maybe Gabriel would forbid him from going to school at all._

_"Come on, kid, knock! You standing there and overthinking the situation wouldn't change his mind!" small cat-like black creature popped out of his shirt's pocket. Plagg may be a bit lazy and ungrateful but he did care for his chosen one and sometimes he could even give nice advice._

_"Right" Adrien muttered. He lightly knocked._

_"You may come in" his father's cold voice reached out through the door._

~~~ End of Flashback ~~~

"Uh, Chat?" Ladybug called out to him as she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Sorry, got carried away with thoughts"

"You sure everything's okay? You know you can talk to me about everything, right?"

He nodded. He knew, he just couldn't find confidence to tell her. He looked at her worried face. Her bluebell eyes were filled with concern, and her lips were slightly open. Wind were playing with her ribbons and her dark blue hair. God, she was so beautiful he almost forgot about the talk. Almost.

"You see..." he started off carefully "In my civilian life I'm quite... quiet known person and 'the face' of my father's company".

She nodded, letting him know that she's listening. He munched on his words trying to find the right ones not to give away a lot of personal information.

"And me, uh, he was talking to me today about, um, things and... the thing is that... I'mgoingtoanothercountry" he blurted out the last part.

Ladybug blinked few times trying to catch what he said. Luckily, she was the same sometimes so she easily figured it out.

"Oh... And for how long you'll be absent?"

"A-a month"

He immediately felt guilty. The only thought of leaving her alone made him wanted to howl. He couldn't do this to her, couldn't left her all alone with akumas and Hawkmoth. He feels guilty every time he skips patrols because of the photo shoots or every time he's late to the fight. But this is gonna be the whole month. And he wouldn't even know– he wouldn't even know if there's an akuma attack or is she gonna be okay... Who will protect her in battles? Who will take the hit for her? He just couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt. He won't be able to forgive himself.

"I see" she noticed worried and slightly guilty expression on his face "Don't worry, I can take care of it".

He kept silent. A sudden idea crossed her mind as she places a hand on his shoulder smiling reassuringly.

"Have fun there for both of us. The world needs a little bit more of Chat Noir. And when you return, Paris will be here, waiting for you."

"I'll miss you, My Lady".

"I'll miss you too".


	2. Chapter 2

"It's not that bad. You'll be gone only for a month".

"The _whole_ month, Plagg! Can you— Can you even imagine how many akumas Hawk Moth can release by the time we will be back?!"

The small black creature rolled his eyes. He knew his chosen was dramatic, though he didn't expect him to be dramatic _that _much

"Listen here, kid." Plagg flew in front of Adrien's face. "I know you're nervous and all, but seriously, it's not that bad. Ladybug is strong enough to handle an akuma alone, moreover I'm sure ol' man will send someone to help her. You just have to relax and have fun, when would you have this opportunity again?"

"Old man?" the blonde asked with confusion. Plagg huffed in annoyance and began explaining in monotone voice as if he was doing it for like hundred times before.

"Great Guardian. He's the holder of turtle miraculous, also the one who knows all about every one of them and the one who keeps them safe." He said chumming on piece of cheese in his tiny paws. This kid was asking way too many questions, and black kwami never liked questions, especially ones that were related to the whole superhero thing. He was just so tired of answering on them again and again.

Adrien sighed not really feeling better than he did before. What if this someone would do something to her? What if Ladybug is gonna like him more? What if she wouldn't want to be partners with Adrien after that? He shook his head in order to get rid of that kind of thoughts. Plagg was right. He can't do anything about it so he just needed to relax.

There still was one problem though. He couldn't. He just couldn't stop worrying. The sudden buzz interrupted his thoughts. A boy picked up his phone to read a message from Nino:_ 'Hey, dude. Guess u r free for today? What r u saying 'bout hanging out w/ Alya and Mari in the afternoon? Sounds good?'_

That's it! He was going to spend his last day in Paris with his friends.

_'Sounds gr8! When and where?'_

_'Will pick u up at 3pm. B ready'_

Adrien looked at the clock. 1:47. He still had plenty of time. What should he do?

"Probably say something to Nathalie"

"What? Did I—"

"Yeah yeah, you were thinking out loud. Now gimme more cheese!"

— on some street in Paris —

"Oh My, Alya! What did he say?" Marinette squeezed Alya's shoulders hearing another buzz from her phone.

"Nino said that Adrien's ok with it"

"Squeeeee! Do you think he will like it?"

Alya gave Marinette another 'girl-get-yourself-together' look. Seriously, Mari was an awesome person and amazing friend, but sometimes... Yeah, sometimes this girl was acting just silly when things came to her crush.

"I'm sure he will love it. Girl, relax. Everything will be just fine. No need to be so nervous".

"I can't help it. You know how much it means to me" the blue-haired girl suddenly stoped with worried expression on her face.

"What if I say something stupid? Oh! What if I do something stupid? What if— What if something goes wrong and I'll hurt him? What if there's an akuma attack? What if—"

Alya sighed.

"There's absolutely nothing to worry about. More likely is that he will be thankful if you hurt him. I'm sure he doesn't want to go anywhere."

Marinette chucked at her BFF's statement. She was right, there was literally nothing that could go wrong. She just couldn't help but worry, after all it isn't going to be just an average afternoon. It will be the whole afternoon that she will spend with her sweet Adrien.

— on some street in Paris —

"So, what are our plans for today?"

"Not telling you or Alya's gonna kill me"

The model rolled his eyes chuckling at his friend. Even though Nino and Alya were dating for two months now he still acted like at the beginning. Remembering that it was an accident that they got together was even funnier. Who would have thought that while he was trying to get Nino to confess to Marinette a sudden akuma made Ladybug to shut the DJ with Alya in a cage and _this_ will bring them together. Fate was such a strange thing sometimes. Thinking back to that day and that akuma was always sending shivers down his spine. There were two reasons to it. First, he got so scared when LB jumped into T-Rex's mouth. He thought he would never see her again. She teased him for a few weeks about it. He could see why, how he possibly could have thought that _Ladybug_ would just do something so dangerous without a plan.

And second, that he was trying to set _his_ Princess with Nino. Not that he didn't want his best friend to be happy, but thinking about it now made him feel slightly stupid. Plagg liked to joke about all this situation and to call him 'lover boy'. Adrien usually just laughed it off, but came to realization that he may have had a tiny crush on her, even though those feelings were nothing comparing to his love for the spotted super heroine of Paris.

"Dude, you ok?" Nino's voice returned him to the real world.

"Sorry, were lost in thoughts".

DJ nodded not pushing on getting the answers, his friend were going to have a tough day tomorrow and he didn't want to affect their plans for today.

"You're lucky we're almost there"

The green-eyed model smiled in anticipation of the good time._ 'Hope it will go well. I don't want any akuma to ruin my afternoon even though I would get to see M'Lady'._

While two boys were making their way to the Place des Vosges Alya was already there sitting on the black-and-green underlay with the bucket full of different kinds of juices. She soon noticed a blue-haired girl making her way towards the young reporter who she called her best friend.

"How is that you're not late today?"

"Ha ha, very funny, Alya. I'm not _always_ late"

"Yeah, you're only late for school all the time"

Marinette huffed and, placing her bucket with croissants, macaroons and some other pasties, sat down near her friend.

"Have you even known that you're leaving near the oldest planned square in Paris and one of the finest in the city which was a fashionable and expensive during the 17th and 18th centuries?"

A short laugh was heard and a male voice asked:

"Since when you're interested in history of Paris's squares, dear?"

"Since I've been waiting for you three for nearly fifteen minutes now" Alya deadpanned still standing up and kissing her boyfriend on cheek. Marinette couldn't help but smile at the couple.

"So... um... s-sit down, and... uh... w-we're h- having a p-picnic"

'_Agh! Good going, Marinette. Why am I always so stutter-y around him? Can't I say at least one sentence without foaming at the mouth?'_

Adrien just smiled at the shy girl and settled himself down near Marinette on what received another awkward smile from her.

"So, again, what are our plans for today?"

He could see Nino opening his mouth but Alya quickly interrupted him saying that Mari should tell him, since this all was her idea. Said bluenette sent a death glare at her BFF and turned to her crush.

"As I a-already t-told you w-we're now having a p-picnic a-and then w-we will go get s-some ice-cream I-if you want of course and... uh... then m-me and Alya were planning t-to go on the Grande Roue de Paris w-when it's dark" she said with not so much stuttering. Through months Adrien and Marinette grew close enough for her only to stutter when she was nervous or when she couldn't find right words. Though Adrien thought it was cute and sometimes even wanted her to stutter a little bit more. Alya gave Marinette two thumbs-up and Nino a 'told-you-so' look but blonde didn't really get it and just shrugged it off.

— in the park —

Some time later, when four friends were done with pasties from Dupain-Cheng's bakery, they were walking through the square talking on different topics. It was all good till Alya mentioned something about her Ladyblog and the topic changed to the two heroes of Paris. At that moment they were standing in the que for an ice-cream since it was Sunday and a lot of students were hanging out.

"I'm telling you he is in love with her! Have you at least seen how he acts toward Ladybug?!"

Alya was trying to convince Nino that Chat Noir was in love with Ladybug. '_Which is true_' thought Adrien but decided not to join in the conversation in order to protect his secret identity.

"Even if it's true, I think he should quit trying" a girl who was standing in front of them joined the conversation "If I were Ladybug I'd never give a chance to some sidekick like him. He barely does anything".

"He is not a side kick" surprisingly Marinette, who was quite till that moment, spoke up. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team. And what did you mean 'some side kick like him'? He's pretty cool, you know"

"And how would _you_ out of all people know that?"

Marinette crossed her arms. Her bluebell eyes shining with anger as she spoke.

"He has saved me a couple of times. And what I'm trying to say is that he is as amazing a superhero as Ladybug. Even she said that he's her partner."

Adrien just stood there watching the girl in awe. It was so rare to see Mari that confident, when he was around. And it still amazes him every time when she is defending someone and staying up to someone who was rude. No one has ever said anything like that about his alter-ego before, except Ladybug. The green-eyed model never knew Marinette was interested in him and his lady. She, of course, watched Ladyblog but never mentioned being Ladybug's fan, or Chat's for the matter.

There were two groups of fans: ones who were only fans of Ladybug and ones who were excited about both superheroes. Adrien, at least, has never heard of Chat Noir's fans. Not that he was complaining, Ladybug deserved that attention, she was perfect. But standing there, seeing his friend protecting him even without knowing it, was very pleasing.

Marinette noticed Adrien's amazed look but it didn't really occurre to her at that moment. She was really only trying to protect her kitty from another hater. She didn't know he was there but she just couldn't stand someone talking about him like that.

"Don't tell me you're his fan."

"And maybe I am. So what? Why don't you just shut your mouth and buy your ice-cream already so we won't need to listen to your bullshit anymore?"

The girl huffed angrily but didn't say anything else. She really went to buy herself an ice-cream and left, giving one last glare to Marinette.

"Whoa, girl! Who knew you had it in ya! It was sooo awesome! Also, I thought you're not interested in our heroes?"

"Err..." and as soon as the question were asked she lost all her previous confidence and became nervous again. "I'm not... I mean... I am... maybe a little... I mean... I had to stand up for him?"

Alya chuckled giving her a knowing smirk.

"Uh... if we're done with the topic... let's go grab some ice-cream?"

— some time later —

They got to the Grande Roue de Paris just in time to see sunset from it. Alya of course was trying to get Mari and Adrien sit in the cabin for two but they all were already taken, so they choose another one for four people. The view from the top was stunning. Even as Ladybug she could have never made it in time to the Eiffel Tower to see the sunset. Paris was beautiful city in any time of the day. In daytime, when the bright sun was shining and it seemed like you can see every single person on the street and every single flower in the park. At night, when the sun went down and Paris explodes in million lights, when the Eiffel Tower itself shines like you have never seen before. But standing there, in the small cabine of the Ferries wheel with her friends, watching dusk was simply breathtaking. Everything and everyone in that time of day was as if glowing from inside. No wonder why there always were so many couples walking through Paris exactly at the sunsets. It was magical. Marinette could feel sun beams touching her skin softly as if they were trying to cheer her up, reassure that everything is going to be okay at the end, no matter what is happening now. And she believed them. She thought of the most important people in her life. Her parents... Alya... Adrien... Chat... And two of them were leaving. She wouldn't see both of them for a month. The whole month without her crush. The whole month without her partner. And yet, she couldn't see the similarities and connect the pieces.

"I've never thought Paris could be so beautiful..."

"Yeah..."

— some time later —

Everything went perfectly according to the plan. As though luck was finally at Adrien's sight, at least ones. Alya and Nino left him with Mari after the wheel, since their homes were in different way from theirs.

"I can walk you home, if you want"

"R-really? I-I mean, I'd love to! If it's ok with you?"

"Sure"

They were walking in silence. That kind of silence, that can only be shared between real friends or very close people. Neither wanted to ruin it, because there were no words needed.

Finally reaching Marinette's house they stopped, standing in front of each other, looking each other in the eyes, thinking of the day.

"Thank you, Marinette" he said softly while pulling her into a tight hug. "Thanks for everything. I'm glad I have a friend like you"

She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging Adrien back. Neither of them moved, enjoying the warmth of the hug. Marinette closed her eyes leaning a little bit more into him, memorizing his smell, something she won't be able to sense in a while.

"You're welcome"


	3. Chapter 3

**Time skip to the moment when Adrien is in Paris already, cause with him abroad nothing interesting happened and what was going on in Paris he is about to find out. **

"Agh! Stop it."

No response.

"You're acting silly."

And again no answer.

"Adrien!"

Said model raised his head from a pillow he was muffling his screams into for the last half an hour. His blonde hair were in a huge mess and his green eyes were shining with elation. He was just happy to finally be at home. He still could feel hugs he received today at school from his friends. Moreover he was waiting anxiously for the time he and Ladybug usually have patrols. He was going to finally see his Lady!

Adrien was too overjoyed so he buried his head into the pillow and started screaming again.

"Agh! You're hopeless. You could've at least give me cheese, ya know" Plagg said glancing accusingly at his holder. Not seeing any reaction to his words, kwami sighed and flew away mumbling something on his way to the kitchen.

— some time later —

The famous black cat was running through the night to his and LB's meeting place. He came out way too early so Adrien decided that he would just knock around streets of Paris for a while. Oh, how much he missed this feeling of total freedom, missed the wind that was running through his hair and the utterly amazing view he has been given. He didn't really thought of where he was going or in what part of the city he was then. It didn't matter. Chat Noir was lucky, despite the fact that he was the symbol of unluckiness and destruction, to have a double life and to know such an amazing person as Ladybug. He was lucky to have Nathalie as his father's assistant, cause he knew for sure it was her, who get Gabriel to let Adrien go to school. He was lucky to be in exact same class as Nino and Alya. He was lucky to meet such a great and loyal friend as Marinette was. But his unluckiness was rubbing on him sometimes. His mother, the one who always was near him, one who he loved, disappeared few years ago. His father was so cold and abusive that Adrien even wondered was Gabriel a robot or something. He still has to do all the photo shoots, go on fencing, piano and Chinese classes only to make _him_ proud, to let _him_ know that he is not useless.

And yet, Adrien was the sweetest and nicest boy. He cared for others, he was ready to give his life for his friends and Ladybug. He was even ready to give his life for his father, even if Mr.Agreste wouldn't be somewhat amazed by this.

As his mood started becoming even more gloomy he shook his head trying not to think of it. Not the time. Soon he spotted **(see what I did there?) **familiar blue-haired girl, who he supposed was either feeling sick or had to help her parents in a bakery cause she didn't come to school today. Maybe he should _chat_ with her for a while.

Marinette was rushing home cause, as usual, she forgot about the night patrol and went to Alya. She remembered _only_ when her best friend said that she was going to try and catch Ladybug on today's patrol. '_Why can't I ever remember anything?! I hope Cosmy is going to be late too. Or at least will think that I'm_—' her track of thoughts was interrupted by someone's hand on her shoulder and painfully familiar voice called: "Princess!"

Marinette jumped and then abruptly turned around only to meet a pair of shining green eyes staring at her. She was left speechless for a while. But as her thoughts came back to her, she realized that she was _Marinette_ at the point, and didn't know him well enough to embrace him in a tight hug, even if she wanted to so badly. Gotta wait for a better time.

"What the hell?"

"Uh... erm... sorry... I didn't mean to startle you" Chat grinned sheepishly at the girl. "I just thought it would be nice to talk with a friend, who I didn't see in a while. Were you going home? I can take you there much faster, since I can run on roofs, ya know?" His smirk coming back on his face, as he drifted a bit closer.

"Uh... Sure. I'd like some company, but... aren't you supposed to be on a patrol?"

'_Hope he won't get suspicious_'

"Oh, yeah! Thanks! I– Uh, was deep in thoughts, so I kind of... forgot? Anyway, gotta go!"

The cat was ready to leave, but stopped himself, turning back to Marinette.

"See you again soon, right?"

The girl nodded her head, smiling sweetly at him. With that, Chat leaved, and Marinette quickly run home, to transform and get to the meeting spot as soon as possible.

— some time later —

She still didn't know how she managed to be there before Chat. Like, seriously, did he get lost or something? '_Or maybe he's seeing another 'Princess' of him?_' The girl shook her head trying to get rid of a small voice in her mind. Was it jealousy? No, definitely no. She wasn't jealous. Not even a bit.

_'I can do this. I can do this. What am I even afraid of? It's not like she forgot about me already or that she doesn't need me anymore. But what if she did?!_' Chat felt himself even more unsure. He wanted to finally see her and speak to her. Maybe, just maybe even hug her. But, oh, he wasn't able. Too worried. Too much time not seeing her._ 'It's useless. I have to do it. It's now or never_' he thought, finally landing right behind her.

Ladybug immediately turned her head toward him, and as a second of a silence have passed, her face lit up instantly and her smile grew wild, her eyes shining with happiness and something else, he couldn't really figure out what exactly. She jumped on her legs and ran toward him, he dissolved his hands, inviting her for a hug. She springs upon his stature, embracing him tightly.

Chat Noir smiled wildly, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her more into him and spinning her around. She hid her face in the corner of his neck, and he could feel her breathes upon his bare skin. He snuggled up to her, scenting her smell of cinnamon and cookies he missed so much. Neither of them let go of the grip, enjoying the moment of reunion of the two young lovers. **Even though they don't know they love each other yet)**

Too soon for Chat's liking, Ladybug pulled away, so she could see him properly now. He let out a sigh, that caused the blue-haired girl to giggle. She looked him into the eyes, smiling brightly again.

"I've missed you too, kitty"

He was ready to say something, using as much puns as he could think of, but was cut off.

"Ahem. I'm sorry to ruin the meow-ment, but we still need the paw-trol to do" a voice, Adrien have never heard before, said so he took a step back from Ladybug (he didn't even notice the 'voice' using cat puns) only to see a girl in exact replica of his costume, despite it was cosmos-like instead of black.

"Hi. I'm Cosmic Cat **(I know it's a lame name, shut it)**, by the way" the red-haired girl in a cat suit smiled warmly and waved her hand hello.

"Nice to see you there early, Cosmy."

"Says the one who's usually late" girl rolled her eyes at her friend.

Ladybug smiled sheepishly, shrugging slightly, as if saying 'You know I can't do anything about it'.

"Oh! Cosmy appeared here the next day you left, so we've been fighting akumas together. She has same powers as you do. I think you two will get along, she makes puns as terrible as yours" at that she winked at him and giggled, seeing him blush. He wanted to argue about his puns being very funny, and at the same time to flirt, since his Lady flirted with him. She _flirted_ with him.

He chose both. While small blush was covering his face, thank god for the mask it wasn't really visible, he managed to pout and said:

"Excuse you, but I think that my puns are purr-fect and they're always punny, besides... I know you love them, don't ya, Bugaboo?"

It made the bluenette to start giggling again. She didn't know what was with her, she never laughed at his puns before. Maybe, she just really missed him. Even though Cosmic Cat acted a lot like Chat, she couldn't replace him. No one could. At least, not for Ladybug.

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"When did I ever listen to you?"

As they were ready to continue their 'fight' they heard someone laughing, and instantly scooted away from each other, blushing.

"Guys, you're acting like a meow-ried couple. And as much as I like that, we still need paw-trol to do".

Chat couldn't stop himself from laughing, one thing, he didn't do in a while. Something about his laugh made Ladybug feel happier. Hearing his laugh, reminded her of someone else she knows, she just couldn't figure out who.

"Right", she said pulling out her yo-yo, "Chat, will you go with Cosmy? I think you two should have some time to talk?"

"Sure" they both nodded at her. Ladybug smiled back, and swing away, heading to the downtown.

The silence took over the two cats immediately. They shared a look, and took off from the Eiffel Tower, to their part of the city, running through it in a complete silence.

"So... uh... Why— How did you... know Ladybug needed help?"

"Fu told me". Seeing Chat's confused face she sighed and started explaining. "You see, there're a lot more miraculous holders like you two in different dimensions. I know, sounds crazy, but it's true. So Master Fu, or Great Guardian, send me a message through my version of Plagg, saying that I needed here, in Paris."

"Um... Okaaay. And you said there's a lot of miraculouses like mine, so why you?.. Not that there's something wrong with you, it's just..."

Cosmy laughed at him, feeling a lot easier around him now, seeing him as nervous as she was.

"It seemed like we're the only one representative of Ladybug's and Chat Noir's miraculous, who took our villain down. It wasn't hard, though. He didn't have any superpowers or anything, just a really thoughtful mafia"

"Uh huh. Okay, one last question... Is your Plagg as annoying as mine?"

The girl laughed at him again, even though she was kinda expecting this question.

"Aw, don't say that. He's a cutie and eats some kind of cheese chips."

Chat Noir groaned in disbelief. Why was he so unlucky? Through all of the versions of Plagg, he managed to be stuck with the most annoying one, not to mention his love for Camembert.

But he still was happy to have at least that Plagg. It was for Plagg, that Adrien was able to be Chat Noir and escape his routine.

He knew he didn't need to say how he actually loved his kwami, cause he already knew. And Adrien didn't need to hear from little black creature that 'it' carried for him, cause he knew.

"Earth to the cat!" sudden voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Blonde model didn't even understand at first, who he was talking to.

"Sorry", she nodded slightly, as they made their way back to the meeting spot. When they reached there, the superhero in a black cat suit launched himself on the floor, resting his back on one of the railing. Ladybug approached them soon too.

"If we're finished for today, I think everyone should get back home, it's pretty late. Especially you, Chat" he looked her into eyes, filled with worry and concern. "You just came back and already into the action, not to mention all the information you probably filled with from Cosmy's story. Besides, there's school tomorrow."

Chat stood up coming closer to his Lady. He took her hand in his, and kissed the back of it.

"Thanks for the concern, M'Lady, but you should probably get home as well"

She blinked few times, not really ready for him to flirt already. **(Ha! That rhymes!) **Then she nodded her head, smiling a bit, and flew away into the night. Chat sighed dreamily. Oh, how beautiful she was. How he missed her and her presence, that always made him feel better. He thought about her warm smile, her pink lips and her amazing bluebell eyes. As another dreamy sigh escaped his mouth, a sarcastic voice, for the second time for today, called to him.

"So the cat's under lady's charm, huh?" Cosmy asked teasingly.

"Shut up"

— in Marinette's room —

Marinette threw herself onto her bad, sighing happily. She couldn't believe he finally was back. She couldn't believe she is so pleased about it. She couldn't believe she missed him, his flirting and his stupid puns that much. She rolled over on her side, closing her eyes. She soon drifted to a sleep with a smile and small blush on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Was he really that bad? Why wouldn't he talk to him? Has he done something? What did he do? Was it really so hard to make some time for his son? Or he didn't worth it?

As questions continued to repeat themselves in his mind, Adrien knew that if he doesn't do anything, it'll only end up in more sadness and could become anger.

Why was his father always like this? Why didn't he let him do something he wants, at least once? Why did he say that it was for him, if he never actually cared about what Adrien really needed?

Blonde groaned loudly, not caring if anyone will hear. He was just so– so tired of all of this. He wanted to live a normal life, to be like everyone else, to have caring parents and be happy.

Except he wasn't. He was famous teen-model, he was one of the best students in his class, he was idolized by lot of girls. But he didn't want to. They said he was lucky. Lucky to be the son of Gabriel Agreste, lucky to be famous at these age, lucky to live 'perfect' life. But he wasn't. He was anything but lucky. And it wasn't side effect of being Chat Noir – Paris's superhero, who only did everything worth. Destruction, that were his powers.

He soon stopped, realizing, how far he had gone with this thoughts. He couldn't let his father affect him like that. He couldn't give satisfaction to HawkMoth, becoming his akuma. He couldn't left Ladybug to fight alone.

Oh, she would never be alone. She had Cosmy, after all.

Young model sighed. He clearly needed some fresh air now. And the only way he was able to get it in 1am was becoming Chat Noir. Becoming someone he actually enjoyed to be, being able to feel and to be free. Sure, he still had some boundaries when he was Chat, but did it matter?

"Plagg... I need your help... Please"

Kwami looked at his chosen with a tint of concern in his eyes. He knew he would regret it, but it was better than seeing him like that. Sighing in defeat he just stated:

"Fine. But you owe me three whiles of Camembert"

Adrien wasn't in the mood to argue, so he simply nodded and said:

"Plagg, claws out"

— some time ago —

"Ah, can you imagine it Tikki? I finally have finished my homework and it's not late yet. I can try to design something and then go early to sleep."

"Sounds like a great plan to me!"

Marinette smiled at her sweet kwami, scooting closer on her chair to the table. The girl opened her scratch book, and just when she was about to start drawing, she understood she didn't know what to draw. Bluenette sighed and went downstairs to take some cookies for herself and her kwami. What a way to get an inspiration, from food!

Sitting back down on her spinning chair, she caught a glimpse of something shiny behind her computer screen. She grabbed it and when she looked properly at it, she was kind of surprised. It was a keychain Alya brought to her as a souvenir from the fair in honor to Ladybug and Chat Noir, she thought she had lost. It was a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir, both smiling and waving their hands, in a heart-shaped metal framing. Marinette giggled, remembering she had to pretend to be ill, so she would go as Ladybug. Young designer smiled at the memory, also remembering a certain black cat, who managed to get poured with water a few times, while riding through the, as they called it, 'Tunnel of Laugh'.

Her smile grew even wilder when her thoughts drifted back to the previous night, also covering her cheeks with tiny blush as she remembered the hug. Tikki teased her all day through about that, but Marinette just laughed it off, excusing her behavior with the excitement of getting her partner and her best friend back. Why her cheeks were burning then?

Shaking her head blue-haired girl put the keychain aside, trying to concentrate on what to draw, but with this souvenir by her side, how could she think of something else?

And she didn't, nearly unconsciously for herself, starting to draw some line inspired by the duo, even though she was a part of it.

— on the streets of Paris —

There he was, running through Paris at night, as usual. It was really lonely on streets at that time of the day, but he was glad there was no one to witness his moment of weakness. He drew his gaze upon rooftops and soon spotted small light coming from a circular window somewhere near him.

_'Who will be up that late on Monday?_' he thought to himself, immediately making a decision to find out. Not that he was going to stalk that person or something, he was just curious. Who knows, it could have been his lady's window... (pls, don't kill me, I can't help it, they're soooo obvious)

Chat Noir stood up and took out his stuff, extending it so he would be faster. He crashed on a rooftop of the famous bakery with a loud 'Thud', that sent him wondering, how did no one heard him?

Apparently, Marinette did. She jumped in her chair and looked at the ceiling.

'_What was that?'_

She put her sketchbook aside, silently standing up and moving slowly towards her balcony. But as lucky as she was, she tripped over something in the dark and felt with as loud 'Thud' as she heard before.

With that every movement on her rooftop stopped, and didn't repeat itself in a few minutes as well. Did she misheard it? Marinette decided to come and check anyway, so when she picked through the hedge she was slightly disappointed there wasn't anything. Or so she thought.

"Uh... Hi there, Princess, why are you—"

"Eeeeeeeeeck!" the bluenette jumped in surprise with an inhuman screech, and turned around, only to be greeted with the pair of electric green cat-like eyes, that were staring at her slightly shocked but with great amount of guilt too.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head in disbelief. As much as she liked his company, it was strange to see him here late.

"You didn't, but, not to be rude, what are you doing here?"

Chat felt his mood dropping down again. What would she think of him if he told her the real reason? But lying was much worse, cause she was his friend, or at least he considered her as one. She just acted so differently with both of his alter-egos: shy and stuttery, but incredibly cute, with Adrien, as well as sassy and confident with Chat. And he couldn't say he liked one part of her more than other. Both parts were making this sweet, caring, outgoing, smart, talented and brave girl, he grew to like after he started visiting her as Chat (after Evillustrator, obviously) and started to hang out more as Adrien after Nino and Alya began dating.

Marinette sighed, guessing about his doubts about telling her or not, so she just motioned for him to come to her room. Magically **(I'd say miraculously) **he has never seen any of her Adrien's posters despite the amount of times he had visited her. Or he just didn't say anything, not wanting to push on her with that. Either way she was glad that he didn't.

She patted a spot near her on the couch, inviting him to sit near. The boy in the cat suit quietly made his way to her. That made Marinette worry more, since he was really quite today. Not a single pun or some silly joke, he didn't even try to flirt.

"What's wrong?"

The cat tilted his head slightly and looked strait into her blue eyes, as if still trying to figure out whether to tell her or not.

"You don't have to if you don't want to" she answered his silent question. He always wondered how could she do that, how could she understand his thoughts just by looking him into the eyes. How could she see through his fake smiles and masks, no matter was he Adrien or Char. She could have always figured his mood. And that was that thing in bluenette, that resembled him so much of Ladybug. One of a lot. Growing to know her better, also made him see how familiar this two girls were. Yet he is too dense to understand they're the same person, though he had his doubts. Her excuses, disappearance during akuma attacks, never in the same place with Ladybug, how familiar they look and act... But he still couldn't see it, as if every time he was close to figure it out, someone would do something to his mind and made him forget what he was thinking.

"I do want to tell you... but I'm not sure..." he trailed of, hoping she will catch the idea. And she did. Chuckling lightly, she rubbed him behind the ear and said:

"I won't laugh at you, silly. It's okay for everyone to have their weak moments. Even Ladybug has ones, so don't you worry".

He then took a deep breath in and started slowly:

"It's... my father... he is— well, he's he. Cold and distant. But it's fine. I'm quite used to it, the thing is... he's so severe and harsh. I just don't understand why— why does he hate me?" At the end of the sentence his voice became a whisper. He was trying not to fall apart at the seems in front of his princess, but was failing miserably. She looked sadly at him, not understanding how can anyone hurt someone like Chat. This sweet, caring, sometimes reckless, but incredibly brave and dorky boy? Placing a hand on his shoulder she made him look at her. She smiles reassuringly, as if saying that it was okay, she was here and he had nothing to worry.

"I'm sure he doesn't. Maybe he just doesn't know how to show you that he loves you. He cares for you, just in his own way".

Chat looked away, ashamed that she has seen him like that.

"Maybe" he mumbled quietly.

Marinette once again looked at him with compassion. She wanted to help, or at least to cheer him up. She continued to rub his head, enjoying comforting silence between them.

Some time later she felt herself a bit hungry, and stood up to go and grab something to eat. When she was near the door she turned around to look at the boy.

"Hey, Chat?"

"Mmm?"

"You want some cookies or, purr-haps, croissants?"

The girl grind, seeing his face lit up. The black cat jumped on his foot rushing toward her, grabbing her by shoulders.

"Did you— You just made a cat pun!" He exclaimed happily. "Also, I'd love some croissants, they're my favorite!"

The blue-haired girl chuckled and nodded.

"Okay, I'll grab some for you too. Just stay quiet and make sure not to look at my sketchbook~"

Right as she closed the door after herself, Chat walked to the table. Despite his cat-like hearing, he didn't hear a giggle coming from a girl, peeking through the door. She knew he would do that. And she actually wanted him to look, so he could say what he thinks of her latest design.

When Marinette returned with the plate of chocolate croissants and two cups of tea she quietly placed them on a floor, and tiptoed to Chat. Wonder, how didn't he notice? She then stood on her toes and half-whispered into his ear:

"Who's the sneaky kitty now?"

Clearly not expecting such a thing, Chat jumped aside and quickly turned around, staring with wide-eyes at the girl, who was wearing a sly grin on her face, in front of him.

"W-what?"

The bluenette couldn't control it any longer, so she burst into laughter. Oh, how she loved teasing him. Usually it was he, who made her blush (she will never admit it out loud, though) or surprise (read startle) her. But despite his sometimes cocky and arrogant behavior he really was just as shy as she was. It was easy to make him blush by giving him the taste of his own medicine. And it was actually very cute, especially the fact that he thought she couldn't see his pink cheeks in the dark. Maybe in complete darkness, she wouldn't be able to see it, or anything, for the matter, but with a little bit of light it was quite visible.

"Awww~ Who knew you're such a scaredy cat"

"I'm not! You were just really quiet..."

She chuckled at his embarrassment a bit, fully understanding how he felt.

"If you say so. C'mon, tea is probably cold by now."

— some time later —

Chat looked at his princess, smiling warmly. He did enjoy the time they spent together, especially when they could just sit, eat cookies or croissants from her parent's bakery and talk about everything. It was the time when he actually could be himself, and be not afraid to say anything, cause he knew she wouldn't judge him. Well, almost everything. He had to keep names to himself, and he couldn't mention some incidents that had happened, that only Adrien could know about. But other than that, he was totally free to say what's on his mind. And he knew she felt the same. Of course she had some things she would never talk to him about, and that was okay. Some things are too private to even share with their best friend.

"Thanks, Mari. It's paw-sibly the most a-meow-zing evening I've had for the last month. Apart from, purr-haps, the one when I finally got back from a trip and My Lady hugged me"

The girl rolled her eyes playfully at the puns, smiling.

"You're welcome, but mind if I ask you something?"

He shook his head, then tilting it slightly and gazing her right in the eyes. Sometimes he acted and looked a lot more like a cat than a human.

"What trip? Ladybug told that you were busy and wouldn't fight with her for a month? And what this new superhero... what's her name ... err Cosmic Cat (smooth, Mari, smooth) is doing here? Will she be there for long?"

Chat Noir's grin grew somewhat bigger, as he asked:

"Did you miss me, Purr-incess?"

"In your dreams, kitty-cat. But seriously, though, answer me"

He again chucked at her curiosity.

"Some family trip, nothing much. As boring as any other office trip. And Cosmy said she came specially to help LB to protect Paris while I'm away. But she will have to leave in a week or so. Why?"

'_Because I didn't get to ask her as Ladybug'_

"Just curious, besides she's really cool."

"Even cooler than me?"

"Uh huh" she sent him another playful smile.

"Meow-uch, Purr-incess. You wounded me, so you must be punished~"

He scooted closer to Marinette, giving her one of his best grins, and started tickling her. Unable to fight the laughter, she started giggling uncontrollably.

"Stop!... Pleas! You know I'm tick— ticklish!"

But she didn't seem to actually be against it. This could have lead them to the moment when Mari takes action and begins to tickle him as well, so the both will laugh very hard. But they were interrupted by his miraculous beeping.

"Ugh, you should leave, besides it's... THREE IN THE MORNING ALREADY?! Oh no! I'm gonna be late for school, _again_!"

Chat Noir made his way toward her window, stopping there and turning around.

"What about my goodnight hug?"

She rolled her eyes, again, but hugged him anyway. After watching him vanish into the night, Marinette changed into her pajama and brushed her teeth. The bluenette then checked on her kwami, finding her in a small bed Marinette made specifically for her. After all of this, she finally got to bed, and soon drifted over to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day at school for Marinette started with catastrophe, Chloe, to be exact.

Despite the fact that bluenette went to bad lately, she woke up early and get to school on time. She and Nino were standing on stairs near the school waiting for their friends to come. Soon Alya came rushing to them with the happy smile and shiny eyes.

"Hi, sweetheart" Nino pulled her by her waist and kissed her on the cheek. Marinette smiled at the two, silently fangirling over every cute moment they have.

"What's the news you want to share with us SO much?"

Immediately getting rid of her boyfriend's hands, and pulling out her phone, she opened the video, which Marinette wished was never on the Ladyblog. She knew Alya really well to think that though. It was the video of Ladybug running toward Chat and hugging him. _That_ hug, one they shared when he returned. Bluenette was sure Alya would ship them even more now.

"Can you believe this?! I don't think they'll hug _like_ _that_ if they weren't in love. Don't you guys think so?"

Aaaaaaand she was right.

"Are you sure? Cause they can be just really close friends, you know."

"Yeah, than _why_ would she hug him like that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because she hadn't seen him an entire month?"

"Hey Alya, hey Mari. What are you girls arguing about?"

Two best friends turned to face the model. Both still with slightly annoyed look on their faces.

"Hi Adrien. Marinette just don't want to believe Ladybug and Chat Noir love each other."

"I'm just saying that we can't know for sure. Yes she hugged him after they hadn't seen each other for a long time. But that doesn't mean anything, they can just be really good friends. Like me and Nino, or you and Adrien, or—"

Said blond smiled at his friend. She was right, and he couldn't disagree with her, even though he wanted him and Ladybug to be together. He came closer and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think Marinette is right, we can't know for sure. Also, why did you even pick this up?"

Alya showed Adrien video, and bluenette could swear she saw a tiny blush on his cheeks. He also asked to send it to him. The bluenette wondered why, but the ring belled and they hurried to class.

Marinette thought that after that it all would go well, but she was wrong.

When they came to class, Alya quickly took Nino by the hand and sat him on Mari's place. When the girl understood that her place was taken, Alya, with the devilish smirk on her face, pointed to the seat near Adrien and sent her an air kiss.

Young designer's face immediately hit up, as she sat down beside her crush. Adrien just smiled warmly at her, of course enjoying another chance to be closer to her. And right there the catastrophe started happening.

Chloe couldn't believe that _that trashy girl_ was sitting next to her Adrikins. But she didn't have a chance to do anything just yet, cause the teacher came and the lesson began. Though she had her revenge at lunch. As she passed the four's table by, she _accidentally_ tripped and all her lunch fell on Marinette.

"Oops" with that, blonde went away, laughing.

"How dare she—" Alya started but was stopped by Nino. Bluenette excused herself and run to bathroom to clean her clothes, she wasn't crying but was close to it. It wasn't fair, she didn't understand why Chloe hates her so much.

"Don't worry, Marinette." a tiny kwami peeked from her purse "Chloe's just being jealous, because she didn't get to sit with Adrien"

"I know, it's still not fair, though."

Red kwami flew to Mari's face and rubbed her cheek to comfort her holder.

"Thanks, Tikki. I think I should head back to class."

Checking her look in the mirror she claimed it being usual and went out of girls bathroom. What surprised her was to see Adrien sitting near the door, obviously waiting for her.

As the girl came closer to him, blonde stood up and, placing both hands on her shoulders, looked worriedly into her eyes. Marinette smiled at him, as if saying that she's alright and he has nothing to worry about. As Adrien smiled back, young super heroine found herself drowning into his radiant-green eyes, that were fill with warmth and worry. They were really close friends now, but she couldn't help feeling butterflies in her stomach every time he looked into her eyes _like that_. Yet she was first to break the silence:

"We already skipped half of the class, should we go?"

"I don't think there's the point in it now."

"Too bad, I probably will have to study it at home to understand at least something.

"If you want, I can tutor you on what we skipped. I already know it due to homeschool program I've passed. Sounds good?" He then smiled with his amazing smile and Marinette, for the second time today, felt butterflies in her stomach. Her cheeks painted in red, but she nodded. How could she possibly say no to that smile? Not that she didn't want him to help her with studying.

"So, in the school library after all lessons are finished?"

"Yeah. But what should we do now?"

He shrugged, but then an idea came to his mind.

"We can wait fo Alya and Nino outside the class. It's just five minutes left till the end of the class"

The bluenette smiled sweetly nodding. They took their bags and went off to class. Chloe's plan didn't work as she wanted it to. Marinette didn't get the detention for skipping the lesson, all because of Alya who explained everything to the teacher. Adrien was the one who came after the young designer so Chloe didn't get to sit with him. That day was a catastrophe for _her_.

After the lesson finished, Nino and Adrien went away to get ready for PE, and Alya with Marinette spend some time talking while getting to the locker room, as it was farther then boy's one.

"Did you say that _he_ had offered that tutoring?! Girl! It's awesome! Well, I highly doubt you could have possibly asked, but it's not the point. You'll be alone with Adrien!"

Sometimes it seemed like Alya was more overjoyed for her best friend and the model to spend more time together, than bluenette herself.

"Now, that you mentioned it, I'm really nervous... Oh no, I don't know how to act around him! What should I do?! Please, help me, Alya!"

"Girl, girl..." dark haired teenager shook her head in response. She loved her best friend. She really did. But sometimes Marinette was a little bit too emotional. "Listen, I know how it feels, but you have nothing to worry about. Adrien's your friend and he wants to help," putting her hands on Mari's shoulders she continued: "Just don't think about the way you look or what he will think about you if you don't know something. I promise, you'll be just fine."

The young designer gave her best friend a smile and hugged her: "What would I do without you?"

"Probably, sit in your room—"

"Ah, no, don't start. It was a rhetorical question."

At that two best friends, laughing and teasing each other, came to their lockers. The day was great, despite the 'Chloe' incident. But it was only the start.

— in the park —

Bettie was sitting on the bench in the park, waiting for her best friend to come. They were planning to do it for a long time now. The girl couldn't find herself a place and sometimes she even has lost sleep. But the day has come. Finally. It was their first anniversary since the day they met. Everything was planned and it was going to go perfect. It _has _to be perfect. But her friend was late. Only for a few minutes, nothing serious, but the day has already started ruining. Soon she decided that it would be better to meet her on her way to the meeting spot.

That was the worst idea Bettie had ever had. The girl hadn't even made the forth part of the way, when she heard it. Yeah, her best friend was laughing with some other teenagers. She could see and hear them, but they couldn't see her.

"You were saying something 'bout that girl from your class... your friend?"

"What? Oh, no" what was she talking about? Was she not valuing their friendship? Why... why was she with _them_? How could she be so nice to people who had bullied her? "I mean... she thinks that we're close friends, but don't worry guys, nothing special".

Nothing special? So after _all_ they have been together through, she is nothing special to her?!

Bettie felt hot tears running down her cheeks. After everything she had done to her, she was nothing special. And _she_, someone who Bettie thought was her best friend, was actually with the bullies? With _her_ bullies?!

She run away from the park, not minding anymore if anyone would see her. Anger and pain mixed into her soul, creating a storm of rage. She was ready to become another one of Hawk Moth's villains.

— at the school —

"So... um... let's go?"

Wow. Now she can make herself the statue for "the most nervous person ever when it comes to their crush". Literally. It wasn't as bad as at the start of a year, but still awful. Marinette has to concentrate and breath. Yeah, especially the second one. She wouldn't want herself to faint in front of Adrien, would she? But then he could carry her to the hospital bridal-style and sit with her until she gets better and then...

The bluenette slightly shook her head, to get rid of the stupid thoughts. She needed to concentrate.

"Yeah, sure. By the way, Mari?"

"Yeah?"

"I... um... Don't mind Chloe. She can be really... impulsive"

He was trying to find right words to say. He knew Chloe was one of a kind, but she was his first and, for the long time, only friend. But he didn't want her to be so hard on his new friends.

Marinette nodded and smiled, saying that it was okay and he had nothing to worry about.

Library wasn't full in that time of a day, so it was quiet and peaceful in there. Adrien said that he will go find the needed book, so Mari took a look around to find the nicest place. She stopped in front of the small table between the window and a bookshelf. That looked just fine.

"Ready to study?"

She jumped a little, not expecting him to be back so fast, and definitely not expecting him to be _so close_. How didn't she notice? She also felt her cheeks hitting up a bit, as she could feel his breathes.

Adrien chuckled, she was always making that cute face when he startled her as Chat. Usually he wouldn't let himself do something Chat would, but he couldn't help himself. She was so lovely when she was blushing.

"What's the matter, Princess? Did I scare you?"

"What?.."

Oh no.

"What did you say?"

"I... uh..." he has to think of something quickly. "I was... just asking whether I scared you..?"

It sounded more like a question, and she clearly was still doubting her hearing. Did she heard what she thinks she heard or...

"Sorry if I did. Um... let's start studying?"

Maybe he really just asked her, but for a few seconds she could swear it was Chat standing behind her (definitely not because Chat was standing there) she could swear she has felt him smirking, and... Princess... it was only Chat's nickname for her. But then again, she didn't get enough sleep, because she spent half the night talking to him, so it was quite alright that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Yeah"

For the next half an hour they weren't talking much. Adrien was just explaining her different things and she was asking questions. It was still pretty cool, since he helped her with other subjects she didn't understand too.

A couple of hours later, when they finished and atmosphere between them became light again, they packed up all their thing and Adrien even proposed to walk her home. Though their plans weren't going to become true.

Since it wasn't dark yet, they decided to go through park.

It was a really nice evening, people were hanging out with each other, kids were playing with their parents. Marinette smiled, remembering herself, when she was five.

"Are you a flower?"

They turned to the small girl, with big grey curious eyes, that were looking at the bluenette.

"What?"

"Are you a flower? Cause you look like one."

Marinette find herself smiling uncontrollably, the girl and situation itself was way too cute. Adrien couldn't help but smile himself too. As he was looking at Mari, he find himself wanting to see her with her hairs down at school too. He wanted her dark blue hairs to lose its curl. He wanted to see them patching under the sun and to see the raindrops on them after the rain, like dew-drops on petals of the...

"Yeah, she does look like a flower".

Her expression changed to slightly shocked, but in a pleasant way, and her cheeks were slowly painting in pink. She looked so pretty in the evening light.

"Is she yours flower?" and before any one of them could answer she continued, taking his hand. "You have to protect her, she's too beautiful to be unhappy"

With that, small girl run away to her mother, leaving both teens with tomato-red cheeks.

Situation, if you can say so, was saved by a loud scream coming somewhere from another end of a park. It has immediately returned them back to the normal state.

"Mari, let's go. You'll hide in your house, sit there till the end of a fight and you won't try to help Chat or Ladybug, okay?"

He was worrying about her. Oh gosh, he was even better than she thought he was. But that doesn't mean she can't protect herself, and moreover...

"But what about you? Your house is pretty far from here."

"Don't worry about me. Besides, my driver will be here in a minute. I'll walk you home."

He grabbed her hand and lead her like that all way long. Marinette was so shocked that she didn't even try to protest. She wouldn't do anything if it wasn't for Tikki who reminded her about the akuma.

"Yeah, you're right. Tikki, spots on!"

— some time later —

"Chat!"

He turned around smiling, he was finally seeing Ladybug again. Chat liked akuma attacks. Of course he understood that it's a bad thing. But it also was his excuse to become free, to become someone, who can do or say whatever they want or think, not minding about 'ruining' their reputation. The second positive thing about akumas was Ladybug.

"Cosmy's already there, let's go"

But she was always so serious about that. Well, it is a serious problem, but that doesn't mean they can't talk during the fight. Besides, it's the way they can get to know each other better.

"The last one will patrol for the winner two times, and you're already loosing!"

She shouted from the rooftop of the next building.

"Oh, you're so on!"

— somewhere in Paris —

Cosmy was furious, her day was awful, this little girl, who was turned into akuma, has already hit her two times, and now she was tangled and was hanging upside down from the one of the roofs. It wasn't making her mood any better. Moreover, Chat and Ladybug weren't anywhere near her, they were fighting akuma. Just super.

The super heroine struggled in vain effort to get rid of the rope.

When she said that she wanted some adventure she didn't mean _that_. Well, at least her life wasn't boring anymore.

The blood was slowly flushing to her head, few more minutes and she will faint. How assuring.

The one thing she knew, was that she had to stay conscious as long as possible.

— some time later —

"Pound it!"

The fist bumped, smiling at each other. Everything was like before. Except...

"What do you think could have possibly happen to Cosmy? You think she's okay?"

"I don't know. But we can search for her, we still have some time"

Ladybug nodded, and pulled out her yo-yo.

"There!" She pointed on the spot on the screen.

"Let's go"

When they found her, she was lying on the ground, unconsciously. Ladybug checked her pulse, and sighed with relief when she felt it.

"We can't take her to the hospital, nor to our homes..."

"I can take her to Master Fu, Plagg recently told me that it'd be great to visit him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes. I'm sure. I'll take care of her, go. I have more time left"

Ladybug sighed, but did as she was told. Chat was right after all. However, she couldn't get rid of this strange feeling in her chest. Was it jealousy? Maybe.


	6. Chapter 6

"I... er... What I wanted to say, guys, is that I'm fine. But I'll have to take a break for a few days. Fu says that I need a rest"

"Well... We'll be waiting for you to come back"

Ladybug ended the call and closed her yo-yo. Cosmy may not be as close friend as Alya or Chat, but she still would miss her. Bluenette sighed. She knew it was wrong to feel that way, but she was a tiny bit happy, that Cosmy won't be around for a couple of days. She spent the whole previous night thinking about that strange feeling in her chest. Conclusions that she made, weren't satisfying her at all. It seemed that somehow, for a while before Chat went abroad, she started developing feelings toward him. And the whole month of not seeing him, only made them stronger. She didn't want to admit them, maybe because she was too stubborn, or she was just afraid of where they might lead, or perhaps she just couldn't let go of her feelings to Adrien. Either way, she was not ready to be honest with herself.

Another sigh. What should she do? Tell him? Nah, it's stupid, she's not even sure what is it yet. Try her chances with Adrien? She already knew he was in love with someone else. Ladybug remembered how painful it was for her to take it. Especially when she at first assumed it was Chloe. How stupid she was to thought that? Though her BFF hasn't stopped trying to set her up with him. Try to spend more time with Chat, to see where it will lead? Maybe.

The heroine wasn't even sure if she wanted to do anything about it. Another deep sigh escaped her mouth.

"Ladybug?"

Bluenette immediately turned to the speaker. She knew that voice. What was that girl doing here in that time of night?

"Alya?"

Two girls just stared at each other for few seconds, dumbfounded by the fact, that they met.

"Aren't you... supposed to be at home? It's pretty late..."

The bloger just shrugged, as she always did when it comes to something she weren't supposed to be doing. Ladybug smiled to herself at that.

"Wanna sit with me?"

The ombré haired girl starred wide-eyed at the heroine.

"Me? Are you kidding? Of course!"

Silently laughing, bluenette helped her best friend to climb on the rooftop.

"I can ask you the same question. Why are you out here in that time of night? Your patrols usually end a lot earlier"

Ladybug chuckled.

"You sure know a lot, don't you?" She turned her gaze back to the city. "Just thinking".

The comfortable silence felt over the two, as they watched rare lights shimmering in the night.

"I just... – Ladybug abruptly started speaking, – have you ever had a situation when you actually don't know what to do? And you don't have anyone to talk to, someone who'll understand?"

She was quite for a moment, before turning her gaze from the city to Alya.

"Sorry..."

"No, no! It's totally fine! I... You can tell me... it is if you want to, of course".

A small smile formed on super heroine's lips, even now Alya is the one helping her out.

"Well... it's just that I got a little bit tired of all that superhero's life... It's hard to combine being Ladybug and being my normal self at the same time... It's also hurts to keep it a secret, especially from my closest friends... Not that I don't like it, but sometimes it all is just too much..."

Unsurely Alya put her hand on bluenette's, slightly squeezing it. Another sad smile crossed Ladybug's expression. There they were, sitting in comfortable silence, watching the city. A blogger, who was so passionate about her hero, and a girl, who saved lives on daily basis, wishing she had someone to be her hero too.

— the next day —

"OMG, girl, you won't believe _what_ happened yesterday!" Was the first thing that Alya said to Marinette at school.

"Let me guess, it has something to do with Ladybug?"

"Exactly! But you'll never, I repeat _never_, guess what exactly."

The bluenette only snorted to that statement, pretending to know nothing.

"So tell me, what exactly had happened?"

"Well, I couldn't have fallen asleep last night, so I decided to go for a walk"

_'In like one or two am in the morning?!'_

"Anyway, I was just planning on going home, when I saw her, Ladybug. And do you know what happened next?! She invited me to sit and talk to her!!!"

At that, some students turned to look their way. Alya slightly flushed, but quickly regained her excitement, and continued on with her story, in more low voice now.

"And she actually talked to me! Like, you know, shared something she didn't even told her best friend! I mean, how legit is that?!"

'_She DID told her BFF, since I'm Ladybug and you're my bestie_' Marinette thought to herself, but before she could react to Alya's words, someone has interrupted their conversation.

"Oh please, who would believe your stupid story, anyway?"

'_Chloe_'

"I mean, even if you have that lame blog of yours, doesn't mean Ladybug even knows who you are. I'd prefer not to, besides—"

"That's _enough_, Chloe! _No one_ cares what you think, so can you just shut up?!"

'_Oh wow. Marinette has actually snapped there. Hope, I'll never get on her bad side_' thought Adrien, as he entered classroom just when Chloe started pushing buttons on her. Speaking of the devil herself, she just 'humphed' in return and angrily stomped to her seat.

"Hi Alya, hi Mari!" He greeted as he walked to his seat as well "Do you know where Nino is?" said the blond model, pointing to the empty seat near him.

"Hi".

"Hi, Adrien, don't know, I was actually going to ask you the same thing".

"Oh, I see. Think, I'll call him at lunch".

They were going to say something else, but Ms. Bustier entered the class, with the bell, and started the lesson.

— at lunch —

"Where have you been?"

"Uh oh, sorry, dudes. I forgot to tell you I was going to be late. Anyhow, I have awesome news for ya all."

The three shared a glance and turned to the DJ with one rosed eyebrow.

"I was late, because I spent all morning standing in the queue for free tickets on this _terrific_ new horror movie!!"

There was silence before friends started speaking, interrupting each other:

"I love you, Nino, and all, but seriously, did you miss the half day of school to—"

"Omg! Nino! It's so out of the hook, how many did you get?!" Alya screamed, jumping excitedly around her boyfriend.

"Four. For everyone of us to come, of course".

"Yay!"

— some time later —

"Are you sure, Mari? I know you don't like horror movies, so it's totally fine, if you don't want to come".

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure" said girl nodded, "Besides, you and Nino will have some time alone, won't you?" she sing-songed, smiling smugly.

"Shut it"

Marinette giggled in response. It was so cute that Alya and Nino still would be so flustered around each other sometimes, even though they have dated for a while now.

"And there's another thing—"

"I'll be sitting next to Adrien, so that you two lovebirds would have your time, yeah, I know".

Alya flushed a little again, but then looked suspiciously at her best friend.

"You sure seem pretty cool with the fact you'll be sitting next to Adrien. You're not hiding from me anything, hmm, missy?" She drifted closer smiling smugly.

"What?! No! Of course no! And 'bout that... Well... I just thought... I mean... I already know he's in love with someone, right? So... uh... I don't think it's fair to try to make a move on him, because I want him to be happy with—"

"Awww, you're so sweet!" ombré haired girl awed, hugging Marinette tightly.

"Yeah, I know" she playfully flipped her hair, as the two started laughing.

"But there's still a problem though. You gotta help me to get dressed for the cinema"

"It's a horror movie, Als".

"But it's still a date... Well, kinda... Oh, c'mon, you're still helping me to get ready, aren't you?".

"Fine, fine". Bluenette rolled her eyes, smiling, "Meet you at five?"

"Yeah, and make sure not to be late!" Alya screamed, running towards her house.

"I'm not _always_ late!" Marinette shouted back, but her friend was out of reach so far, "Never mind".

At that small red creature popped out of her purse, calling for her holder:

"Marinette!"

Bluenette immediately turned her attention to her kwami.

"Shh, Tikki, there's lot of people out here. Someone might see you".

"Sorry. I wanted to say that you need to get home as well, you have only two hours till meeting Alya. And you still haven't done your homework!"

"Right. Thanks, Tikki".

She grabbed her school bag, and headed toward the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

— some time later —

"So, do I look good?" blue haired girl asked her friend, studying her reflection in the mirror.

"You look perfect, Mari" Alya rolled her eyes. Though, it was usual for her to always be nervous and unsure about everything.

"You sure?" she turned around looking suspiciously at the ombré haired girl.

"Yes, I'm sure", young journalist sighed, "Seriously, it's like the third dress you're trying. If you don't make your decision soon, we're gonna be late. Besides, I thought that you don't want to make a move on Adrien?.." she teased.

"I don't!.. I mean... sure I do want him to be happy, but... well, I still want to do my best for him?.." Marinette answered, though it sounded more like a question.

"Uh-huh, sure"

"Shut up" she smiled in return. Her gaze moving to the clock, "Oh no! We're gonna to be late!"

Alya rolled her eyes again, sighing:

"Told ya so".

Marinette gave her best friend a dirty look and picked up her purse, with Tikki in it.

"Let's go?"

"Yeah, better hurry, my dad's already waiting"

— at the cinema —

"Hey, girls!" Nino waved at them, as they walked out of the car, both laughing at something from Alya's phone.

"Hey, Nino, looking good"

Ombré haired girl gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek

"Yo, thanks, sweetie , but you look better" Dj returned the compliment, kissing her full at the mouth.

"They're cute, but they're so gross" sighed Marinette, talking rather to herself, then to anyone else.

"I know, right?"

She jumped a little in surprise, seeing no other than Adrien himself. Blonde rubbed the back of his neck nervously:

"Uh... Sorry for startling you again"

"No sweat, it's fine" she smiled at him, surprising mostly herself, by saying that without stuttering. Maybe she really has finally started to get over him.

"Hey, lovebirds, stop kissing already, we've got movie to watch!" She screamed at two teens, who immediately pulled out and blushed. Bluenette only let herself a small smile, when she heard Adrien chuckle at that.

"Ye, right. Let's go guys"

— at night —

Later that night Marinette was finally home, flopping on the bed. She couldn't say she didn't enjoy the movie, but there were so many things that went wrong. At first, some little boy has been kicking her seat, till Adrien told him to stop ("Oh my _god_, Mari, he's _protecting_ you!" "Shut up, Alya!"). Then, some other teens, who has been sitting in the last row, she was pretty sure they were Kim, Alix and Max, since she heard that they got tickets too, were throwing popcorn at other people and some just happen to fall right into her hair. But that weren't even the worse part.

Just at the most epic and scary moment, the screen was blown up by an akuma, and she had to try and find an excuse to transform. And even that didn't go well: when she was ready to say the catchphrase, she was picked up by Chat ("Princess! Get out of here, it's way too dangerous for you!") and carried away to the rooftop of some building ("Be careful next time, please").

And when she finally got to the fight scene, Chat has been knocked out, so she of course tried to wake him ("Hey, bugaboo, what a—" "Don't even start"). His head was hurt, but he said it was okay, so she just hoped he will treat the wound after they defeat the villain.

And akuma was just some crazy fan of the horror movies, who didn't get the tickets ("If I don't get to see it, then no one will!"), like seriously, Hawkmoth, the best you came up with?

After that she had to make sure no one's hurt and quickly get back to her friends, till they would get suspicious.

And to the top of all that, Adrien has gotten hurt, and they had to take him to the hospital. ("I hope he'll be okay" "Didn't you say that you got over—"No! I said I won't try to make a move, shut up, Alya!")

So yeah, her evening was totally awful.

Marinette just hoped that Chat and Adrien are fine **(it's totally not suspicious that they both hurt their heads, no)**, and that she will get enough sleep today, because all she could think of was her soft and comfortable bed, that was calling for her to come and to rest.

— at Fu's place —

"But Mater Fu! I want to stay here for a little bit longer!"

"I know, I know. But he's probably waiting for you, don't you think?"

"He could wait a little longer." Red haired girl clasped her hands: "Please! It's just so confusing, I _can't_ leave these two like that!"

Old man shook his head, smiling. He knew that she was just trying to help her friends, but she was forgetting that they shouldn't hurry them, so the two superheroes could find their way by themselves.


	7. Chapter 7

She was late.

Again.

Ladybug couldn't explain why, but she was late for the last few patrols, and now she's only escaping from her house, even though patrol has started 15 minutes ago.

Running on the rooftops, young super heroine was trying to make a believable excuse. It has never been her strong side, so she's been miserably falling.

Reaching the meeting spot she quickly looked around, confused, since Chat wasn't there.

Or so she thought.

"It's nice to finally see you there, LB"

She turned around, smiling nervously at him. Young hero felt guilty, so she hasn't even noticed his smirk.

"Uh... sorry I'm late again, it's just..."

But before she could finish her sentence, he took her hand, smirking flirtatiously:

"You're still on time to be my Lovebug" at that, Chat kissed the back of her hand, winking.

Ladybug just rolled her eyes and groaned a bit, but didn't take her hand from his. She doesn't have anything against his flirting, but she was still confused and it made her blush, so she tried to hide it underneath her usual behavior.

— at the end of the patrol —

"M'lady, wait!"

She turned around, raising an eyebrow:

"What's that, kitty? Something's wrong?"

"No, no, the thing is... " he rubbed the back of his neck, searching for right words, "Well... I just wanted to ask... Can I at least know your name?"

But before she could have answered, he continued:

"Look, I know how much this secret identity thing means to you, but think about it, Paris is a big city and there's—"

"No, Chat, it still too risky. What if we can figure each other by the name?"

He sighed.

"I know... I just don't understand why would it be wrong to know each other in real life too?" Blonde turned his gaze away to the city below them.

"Chat..." she softly called, reaching for his shoulder.

The black cat smiled sadly at her, turning back to the view then.

She followed his gaze, sighing. But what if he's right? What if this is really no harm in knowing each other?

But she knew she was not ready, she wasn't sure about his reaction for Ladybug being his Princess...

On the other hand, she wanted to know to, so maybe if she...

"Okay"

"What?"

"Okay, you can know my real name, if it's what you really want to"

Chat stared at her for a few seconds unbelievably, but then a huge grin crossed his face and he took her in a bear hug.

"Thank you, you can't imagine how much it means to me!"

She smiled a bit to herself at that, hugging him back. Ladybug wasn't feeling so sure about it already.

After letting her go, he even took a step back, to see her face better. She was worried, he knew it.

"I can go first, if it'll be easier for you"

She raised her eyes on him, silently thanking.

"Adrien"

Young heroine was left speechless. What? Did she heard it right? Was she imagining things, or did Chat really just said that his real name was Adrien?

Could it be... No. It would have been too good to be true, no.

"M'lady? You okay? Is... my name too awful for your beautiful ears?" He half-jokingly asked, being as nervous as she was deep inside.

"Wha–? No! No, it's not that... Uh... Never mind, everything's fine. I like that name"

_'Or, perhaps, the holder_' Tikki teased in her head, referring to both Adrien and Chat.** (Little AN. Just so you don't get confused, I like the theory of the kwami and holder speaking to each other in mind, while transformed, because the bond between them is stronger then ever)**

Young heroine chose to ignore her little friend's teasing.

"You sure? You look a bit out of it?" reaching for her hand, he stoped himself in the halfway, not sure if he was allowed to do it.

She was touched by his concern, and even took his hand in hers, but he didn't have to worry. She was okay.

"I'm sure, don't you worry" she smiled.

Smiling back, he suddenly pulls her closer, but not too close, for her relief.

"And you are..?"

She took a deep breath and sighed:

"Marinette"

It was the moment when silent felt over the two again. They were just standing on a rooftop, looking each other in the eyes, trying to find the answers to the endless sequence of questions. Who they were? Did they know each other? Are they who they think they are?

Until a beeping sound was heard.

"You have to go, you only have five minutes"

"You too"

They turned around to leave, when...

"Ladybug?"

"Hm?"

"See you tomorrow on patrol?"

She smiled at him:

"Of course".

— at Marinette's house —

"Marinette, it's okay"

The bluenette shook her head violently:

"No! What if... What if he finds out? He can, of course he can!"

She reached the end of her room, turned around and started walking again.

"I mean, Tikki, he knows both sides of me! It's easy, like to put one and one! Besides," she interrupted when her kwami tried to talk, "he has said before that I am a lot like Ladybug!"

Little red creature sighed, then floating to girl's face.

"Don't worry, Marinette. Even _if_ he finds out, I highly doubt he will abandon you. He likes you!"

"You can't be so sure. Moreover, even if he does, it's still not _me_, but Ladybug he has feelings for"

"But you _are_ Ladybug!"

Marinette just shook her head, she wasn't in a mood to argue with Tikki. She was too worried.

Come to think of it, there was really nothing bad in him finding out, except his attitude towards her and his behavior will most likely change, she was sure about it. And young designer wouldn't be able to bear it.

She wouldn't be able to lose him and his presence.

He was right, one day they will know, but not today! Not _now_! She wasn't ready.

And another thing to think about is... his name. Was he serious? If he was, how many boys in Paris have that name? What if he... Not possible!

He wouldn't have said his real name if he was her Adrien, who is Adrien Agreste, the most popular teen model in the whole city, because it would have been easy to figure out. But what if he wanted it? But why?

Besides... Adrien is calm and always smiling, never shows his true feelings. He's courteous and intelligent. Chat is different. He's courageous, compassionate, adventurous and passionate. They were so different, yet so alike. They both were kind and caring, reliable and sincere. Not to mention their similar dark blonde hair, and stunning green eyes.

Why everything in her life was so complicated and confusing?!

— in Adrien's room —

"Kid, stop".

No answer. He was back at it again. Plagg knew his holder was really dramatic at times, but it still pissed him off every time Adrien went that way.

Yet again he was just standing there, dashing against the rock and repeating that he was awfully stupid. Yes he was, but it's no use if you just keep bumping your head against the wall! Why were humans so difficult?

"Yes, you were ridiculously stupid and blind, but stop already! Natalie would be mad that you have bruises on your forehead!"

Adrien raised his head, turning to Plagg.

"What should I do?! I can't tell her, she's gonna be so mad, cause she told me it could happen!"

"And you knew she was right. Why did you even ask then? If you couldn't have guessed, what would it have given to you?"

The model nervously run his hand through his messy blond hair. Come to think of it, why did he even ask? She could have been any girl from Paris, with the most popular name and it wouldn't have led him anywhere... Maybe he was hoping it actually _will_ give him a hint of who Ladybug was... He didn't intend to find out!

"I don't know? I mean... I _did_ wanted to know, but, well... not like that!"

Black kwami groaned. No, seriously, why were humans so hard to understand? They say they want one thing, but when it becomes true, they're always not happy with that! He will never be able to get it.

Adrien suddenly stood up.

"I'm still not one hundred percent sure it's her, right? So what if... I'll just try to speak to her in school? It can give me hints..."

Little kwami chose not to answer that, because his holder was just denying the truth, even though it was so obvious that Marinette and Ladybug are the same person, right from the start.

— at school —

Okay. There she was. Speaking to her best friend about something. But she was obviously not paying much attention rather looking as if she was trying to find someone in the crowd. Who was she looking for? Why did she look so nervous? Was it a boy? Was it someone she loved?

So many questions and yet no answers. But he will find the truth. He needed to know...

— some time later —

"Plagg"

"Yeah?"

"It's her... It has been her this whole time... She's— She IS Ladybug..."

Black kwami sighed. He knew Adrien had a hard time believing it, but it wasn't he end of the world, so there were no need to be such a drama queen.

"I know"

"But... Wh— What should I do now?"

"Oh, I don't know, - Plagg answered sarcastically, - Perhaps, tell her?"

"What?! No! I can't, she'll be furious and will never talk to me again! And... And what if she'll find out I'm Adrien?.. She'll hate me even more!"

Plagg sighed again. He surely needed another piece of his precious Camembert to be able to hear his holder complaining with no reason at least a little bit longer.

"I mean... How could I be so blind?! It's so obvious! I'm feeling like an idiot right now!"

Little black kwami snickered:

"That's because you _are_ an idiot"

Despite his worries he found it hard not to roll his eyes at his kwamis attitude. Why is he even telling him anything?

— in the evening —

Later that day Ladybug was sitting on the edge of a roof, watching over her city and waiting for her partner to arrive. She wondered what had been keeping him? Was there another problem? Was he trying to avoid her after the last patrol? Or was he just late?

"Hey"

She turned around and smiled a little at him:

"Hi, kitty"

Why didn't he call her one of the nicknames? Not a single pun or a pickup line? Was he having a hard time being near her after founding out her name? Why—

"Heyo, guys! You seem quite today, something has happened?"

Ladybug immediately got to her feet and rushed to the red haired girl, taking her into a hug.

"You're back! I'm happy you're okay" she said, pulling away from Cosmy.

Said girl smiled warmly in return.

"Well, I couldn't possibly live you two just yet"

Girls were really excited to see each other, and Chat couldn't help but feel jealous, cause Ladybug was HIS Lady. But he chose not to show it, still interrupting their conversation:

"It's nice to see you again, I'm glad Fu was able to take care of you"

"Yeah, he's a purrrfessional after all, besides I at least would have come to thank you furrr bringing me there"

"Heh, no purrrroblem there, little black cat"

"Uh-huh, and why is that I'm the 'little one'?"

Ladybug found it hard not to snicker at their combat, so she cleared her throat:

"Don't you two think we should start patrolling know? Like, you know, the earlier you start, the earlier you finish"

They smiled sheepishly, nodding.

"I'll take the left bank, then" Cosmy said, trying to escape ASAP to give the pair some privacy.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Chat followed, leaving lost Ladybug alone on the roof.

What?

Why would he run away like that?

Was it really because of what happened yesterday?

Or was it just because of Cosmy?

— with the cats —

"Look, I know it somewhat random but I need to talk to you. Well, actually, I need an advice..."

Cosmy looked intently into his eyes. What was he planning? She knew Chat liked Ladybug a lot, so why would he leave such a chance to be alone together? It was obvious that he was nervous, but she didn't have any idea why.

"Go ahead, I'm listening"

Now he seemed to became even more nervous. What in the word is wrong?

"So... uh... um... yesterday... well, yesterday I finally found out some information about her... actually she gave it to me, but not like— I mean—"

He sighed. It was harder than he expected. On the other hand he himself couldn't understand why was he so nervous.

Cosmy stifled a giggle, but Chat heard anyway. He looked so adorable pouting, that Cosmy couldn't hold it any longer and laughed out loud.

"Oh, sorry, I'm so sorry, – she laughed, – you just should have seen your face", she smiled, but then her face became serious again. – "I'm really sorry, but don't be nervous, I'll help you as much as I can"

Chat smiled a little in return and, with another sigh, he told her everything: how he finally was able to get LB's name, and how he found out it was one of his classmates, moreover one of his closest friends, how he didn't know what to do and needed help.

Cosmy was quite for some time, but her answer was filled with determination:

"I agree with your kwami, you should tell her, she has the right to know. Even if she gets angry, I, personally, highly doubt that, it's better then she finds out by herself".

"But how?! I can't just say: 'Hey, Ladybug, remember I said that I can't figure you out by your name? That's bad, cause I did'. That's just stupid!"

Now it was Cosmy's turn to sigh. On one hand Fu was right and she couldn't rush him, but on the other she couldn't bear these two.

"Okay, listen up, I have an idea..."

— some time later —

Ladybug was pacing rooftop for about a few minutes now. What was taking them so long? What were they doing? Were they... No, they barely know each other! Besides, even though being total dorks, they both were taking patrols seriously, so they wouldn't have—

"Sorry to keep you waiting"

They both jumped from the rooftop of next building, perfectly matching each other, two black cats in the night. Her mood became even worse.

She forced a smile, trying to hide her sadness and jealousy. But she was actually surprised when Cosmy asked her to stay and talk a bit. It was Friday, so it wouldn't be bad.

"Then, if you don't mind, I'll leave you two alone" Chat purred and kissed the back of Ladybug's hand and, to his surprise, she hasn't took it from him.

"Goodnight, M'Lady, by, Cosmy", – he bowed and left. Though LB didn't notice him returning and hiding nearby.

"What's that you wanted to talk about?"

"Look, I know what you might think, but you don't have to be jealous, yeah, I've noticed, there's nothing between me and Chat".

Black cat tried to eavesdrop, but had to get closer, cause even with his cats hearing he couldn't understand a word.

"I have no idea what are you talking about", – Ladybug huffed, trying to look unsuspicious.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Don't be shy, I see the look you give him. Tell me, do you like him?"

"What?! No!"

'_Course not'_

This time he actually left, unable to hear anymore of this. What was he even hoping for? She could never return his feelings.

"I mean... Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I like him. It's hard not to, but..."

Cosmy smiled to herself, it was a great start.

"But what?"

"Well... yesterday we told each other our names. And the thing is... there's a boy in real life, who I like— liked, he's my classmate. I just thought I got over him and can focus on Chat and... Chat's name the same. I thought a lot about it but I hadn't come to a conclusion yet. I don't know whether they're the same person or not. And it's... really confusing, because if they're it's good, because I don't have to choose between them, but on other hand... I don't think Chat will be okay with me being, well, me in my normal life and I wouldn't be able to bear it, and my life is never that easy, and—"

"Whoa! Hold on, I got it. Don't overthink it. I've been to same situation, it ended up all well. You're meant for each other, as miraculous holders, so it'll all work out. Just listen to your heart"

Ladybug smiled somehow more brightly and hugged her friend tight.

"Thanks, Cosmy, I don't know what I would do without you"

"Don't thank me, I'm just doing it, because I can't watch you two trying to figure your feelings out"

"What? Do you mean—"

Cosmy mentally face palmed at herself, she had to control her tongue next time.

"Uh-oh! Look what time is that! Pretty late, huh? Better get going, see ya!"

With these words being said she left young heroine dumbfounded and with a lot of things to think about.


	8. Chapter 8

"You're going to tell him?" Tikki curiously looked at Marinette, while chewing on a chocolate cookie.

"Yeah. This Monday. I'm going to tell Adrien that I liked him and still kinda do", - bluenette replied, not taking her eyes off the design she currently was working on.

"Wow. That's great! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, Tikki" Mari smiled at her.

But then a loud knock was heard. Little kwami immediately hides behind the computer screen.

Marinette went up and opened the window to see no other person then Chat Noir himself.

"Hi, Princess. Are you working on your designs again? - black-suited superhero asked, climbing inside. - And what about a normal sleep?"

"There's no school tomorrow, so there's no problem in staying up late. Why are _you_ not sleeping at that hour?"

Chat shrugged his shoulders:

"Just couldn't fall asleep"

They were silent for some time, when Chat spoke:

"I know this is sudden, and you really don't have to answer but... I need an advice and you're the only one I talk to as Chat, so here goes: have you ever had a situation, when a person, you're in love with, does not return your feelings? And you know you can't actually do anything about it, because you've already tried so many times?"

Marinette didn't reply for some time, but then turned, and looked directly into Chat's green eyes. If she was going to let Adrien go, she needs Chat to know about him.

"Yes, I did. I'm sure you know the model Adrien Aggreste, right? - after black cat nodded, she continued: We're classmates. And I fell in love with him. No, don't say anything, just listen. I know what you were going to say: 'He's a model, everybody likes him'. I did not like him for his appearance, even though he is really good-looking. I fell in love with a boy, who was knew to school, knew to friendship and who was incredibly kind and frank..."

She kept silence for some time and then continued:

"But I had never told him. I couldn't, - she smiled, - every time he was around I just couldn't speak normally, became all stuttery and shy. It went for quite a long time. And now I'm ready to tell him. But I know that there's someone else that he likes. And... that's okay. I still like him a little bit, and I always will. I just know that he needs more love in his life, and I'm okay with just giving it to him... Besides, I found myself falling for another person".

Chat was so shocked, he couldn't even say anything. So all this time she has liked him? _Him_? And... he was late. It was too late when he figured out that she's Ladybug. Too late for him to do anything now. He was so close, but now...

Seeing that her cat didn't react she teasingly said:

"Where's your cat's famous curiosity? Don't you want to know who he is?".

_She_ was in love with _him_. _Was_. Always too late. He hated himself at the moment. How could he be so blind? Why did he thought that she's going to return his feelings after what he heard yesterday? Why?

"Umm... Chat? Kitty? You okay?"

He didn't say anything, just hugged her really tight.

"I'm so sorry, Princess"

"Oh, you don't have to be. Everything is fine. - she rubbed his head, hugging him back. - I told you, I just want him to know. I won't be able to quite move on until I tell him".

He didn't let her go for some time. He was holding her so closely and desperately, as if he will never be able to hug her again. Of course he will, but it won't feel the same.

"Sorry, it's really late, I should go. Hope you are lucky this time, and that new guy likes you back. He ought to. You're wonderful. Good night, Princess"

And with nothing more he just left, leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts, smiling widely.

"You know what, Tikki? I'm gonna tell Chat that I like him too. As Ladybug on tomorrow's patrol"

"Two confessions in a row? You're really making me proud" - giggled kwami flying to Marinette's shoulder. Bluenette just playfully poked her friend, as she really had nothing to say in defense.

— the next day in the evening —

"Does this look okay?" - Marinette asked her kwami, dolling up in front of the mirror.

"Marinette, it looks wonderful. I'm sure Chat Noir will say so–" - she was cut off with a loud knock on a window. Tikki sighed and hided behind the computer screen. Marinette lets Chat in. He looks at her from head to toe, heart beating a bit faster. She was beautiful, as always.

"Awww, thanks, Kitty"

He said that out loud, didn't he?

"Are you going on a date?"

Nice save, Chat. Nice save. Marinette smiles and returns to the mirror.

"Well, it's not exactly a date, but something like a small walk. Why?"

"I know you must be in a hurry, but, please, let me take at least five minutes of your time". Marinette turned towards him and crooked an eyebrow, inviting him to continue. Chat took a deep breath. His life may get ruined right now. In a worst-case scenario his lady won't forgive him, and he will lose her friendship too. But he hoped that wouldn't happen.

"I know you're Ladybug."

Marinette's heart dropped.

_'Oh no. That's it. He is disappointed. I knew it_'

"And I'm so so sorry. Please, don't say anything. I know you warned that this could happen and I didn't listen, but I swear that no one else will ever find out. And... I love you. With my whole heart and soul. I'm sorry that I didn't understand it earlier, that I was so stupid and blind".

Marinette reached to cup his cheek and say that he's not stupid and not the only one who was blind, but he stopped her:

"Don't. I should have figured it out earlier, you two are so alike it's strange that I didn't. I love you, my Lady, my Princess... and it's okay. I understand now, what you said yesterday, about giving love. I'm sorry, that it happened the way it did, and I wish I could start it over and do everything right. But for now... I'm not going to stand in the way of your happiness. I wish you a good luck and hope we can still be at least friends" - he was going to leave, but come back and gave Marinette a kiss on a cheek and not saying anything else, left.

Bluenette just stood there motionless, holding her cheek. Her kwami popped up from behind the screen and flew to her holder.

"Um... Marinette?"

The small smile appeared on girls lips, growing wilder and wilder, until she let out a small laugh, and went to her wardrobe. Her kwami, concerned with such reaction, came after her:

"What are you going to do now?"

"His words has really shocked me, but at the same time, made me the happiest person alive. I want to make him happy too. Especially now, when I know I can. What do you think about this dress?"

— some time later —

Chat was sitting alone on the rooftop. He really couldn't bring himself to patrol right now. Despite the fact, that he said it was okay. It really wasn't. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have been. The blonde was heartbroken. And it was his own fault. It hurt really bad, to the point he barely could hold back tears.

Ladybug noticed her partner almost immediately, he wasn't too far from her house. She landed on the rooftop and transformed back. She went towards Chat and sat near him. But the boy didn't even flinch, he was so lost in his thoughts that only noticed his Princess when she started talking:

"Stars are beautiful tonight, isn't it?" - bluenette said the cheesiest thing she could think off, while smiling, waiting for his reaction.

"Mari..? But– Aren't you were going on a date?"

The girl smiled a little wider, but responded with surprise in her voice:

"What date? I thought I said it was going to be a small walk?"

Chat blinked a few times, still trying to figure out why she's not on a date, did something happen? While Marinette was fondly watching him, smiling softly. She then smirks, and pokes him on a shoulder.

"If you're calling this a date, you should invite me somewhere or, at least, join the conversation"

'_What_'

His lack of understanding was written on his face that clearly, that young girl couldn't help but start laughing. When she calmed down she looked him straight in the eyes and said:

"I'm in love with you too, Kitty. Have been for a some time now, but I was so wrapped up in my feelings for Adrien, that I couldn't notice nor yours, nor mine own feelings towards you. I'm sorry, that it took me so long. I'm sorry, that I have hurt you way too many times and–"

Chat cut her off with sudden, really tight hug. He is the happiest person alive right now. This was more than a dream coming true, it was his dreams coming back to life _and_ coming true. He could've cried at the moment.

Marinette hugged him back, whispering that everything is fine now, everything is going to be the way it should be. Some moments later he let her go, asking his love to close her eyes.

"Plagg, claws in".

After he detransformed, and made sure Plagg received his camembert, he let Mari open her eyes. At first, bluenette just stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Until it sank in. It's Adrien. _Adrien_ _Agreste_. ADRIEN. The one, she has been crushing on for so long, the one she just gave up on, the one, she confessed to without even knowing, the one she kissed and OH MY GOD. Kissed! She grabbed her head. What has she done. The blonde just smiled at that adorable reaction, but he won't spoil that she said his name out loud a few times. It was cute. He just pulls her closer, kissing her forehead.

"Is this okay?" he asked. Marinette could just nod, she still was kinda surprised. Adrien hugged her quickly, then started living small kisses on her nose, on her cheeks, on her forehead, brows, eyes, everywhere he could, until his adorable girlfriend (well, at least he hoped she wouldn't mind that) started giggling too.

"There's no surprise it's you, actually"

"Really? You knew?"

"No, but I should have. After all, only you would be able to capture my heart twice".

He smiled fondly at her. Boy, was he smitten? Yes, completely. He kissed the tip of her nose again, and put their foreheads together, looking into her mesmerizing bluebell eyes.

**Aaaaaand that's it. The END.**


End file.
